Hundreds of them have been mobilizing on foot - and in large convoys of tractors...

And it's starting to look a lot like 2020 - when similar protests rattled the country.

Those protests lasted for over a year.

The latest round comes just before a general election...

and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who's expected to win his third term in office, doesn't want to repeat history.

So - why are farmers protesting again?

In short - they want better prices for their produce.

Farm unions want guarantees, backed by law, for state-set assured prices for their crops.

That would protect them from any sharp fall in farm prices amid market uncertainties.

Modi's administration said it would set up a panel to find ways to do that in 2021...

and farmers accuse the government of being slow on that promise.

Farmers also want the government to honor a pledge to double their income... which it made in 2016.

Modi's government wants to avoid any major confrontation with farmers -

who might not always vote as one bloc - but are still very influential in the countryside, where most Indians live.

To appease protesters, the government might agree to provide them some kind of bonus.

But farm policy experts argue that buying all farm produce at state-set minimum support prices is economically unviable.

Farmers are set on their demands and are in no hurry to head back to the countryside to gather their crops...

As the new season wheat crop won't be ready to harvest for another month.